by Pastor Cecil | May 27, 2014 | 1 John
1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from Him and declare unto you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
I have a great fear that we have given people the wrong message concerning salvation. We have propounded the idea that you are able to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and go on living a godless lifestyle. That is totally wrong. I find none of that thinking in Scripture. In fact it is just the opposite. This passage is just one of many that indicate our walk must match our talk.
Jesus consistently told those who had been set free from sin and disease to turn away from it and begin to walk a different walk. Now if Jesus said that to people in His day, it still applies today. It seems that somewhere along the line, we have adopted the notion that we can live like the devil and still be a child of the King. BEEP! WRONG!!
It is inventory time. We need to answer a set of questions that may well determine our eternal destiny. That means we cannot take them lightly. Ready?
- Can you recall when you prayed to ask the Lord to forgive your sins and come into your life?
- Were you sincere in praying that prayer?
- Do you have the assurance that Christ is your Savior and Lord at this very moment?
- In what manner has your way of life changed since you received Christ into your life? Have you turned away from the sins of your past?
- Are you disciplining yourself daily to read God’s Word?
- Do you have a meaningful prayer time each day? (Not just before meals or “Now I lay me down to sleep”)
- Do other people know you are a Christian by your spiritual walk with the Lord?
- When you sin, does your conscience convict you and lead you to confess the sin?
- If you were to appear before God right now, would He be pleased with the way you are living?
These are just a few questions that will hopefully reveal what your walk is like. It may be a wakeup call to re-establish your relationship with God. It is so easy to get caught up with the things of the world and ignore the Lord who has promised us eternal life. We never know when something very sudden and unexpected could end our life on this earth. The few questions above will be nothing compared to the questions we will give about every deed done in the flesh. Are you ready? I urge you to do it now while there is still time.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 31, 2014 | 1 John
1 John 4:13-16
This is how we know that we live in Him and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
I was calling on a member of a church I once pastored. He was in guarded health and the doctor had told him that he could go at any time. I read a few verses of Scripture with him and tried to encourage him in the Lord. To be honest I am not sure I was ever able to assure him that he was truly born again and ready to be with the Lord.
My dear friend Michael Keller has a prison ministry in Florida. One of the first questions he asks the inmates who he meets with is; “Do you think you are saved by being good?” Most answer “Yes!” That is not what the Bible says.
Let me share with you once again the words of Ephesians 2:8-9; “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” So it it is not what we do for God, but what He has done for us that assures us of eternal life.
When we pray an honest prayer to the Lord and invite Him to be the Lord of our life we can know beyond all shadow of doubt that at the moment we breathe our last breath here on this planet, we will be with the Lord forever and forever. Praise God!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Mar 19, 2014 | 1 John
1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from Him and declare unto you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
I have a great fear that we have given people the wrong message concerning salvation. We have propounded the idea that you are able to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and go on living a godless lifestyle. That is totally wrong. I find none of that thinking in Scripture. In fact it is just the opposite. This passage is just one of many that indicate our walk must match our talk.
Jesus consistently told those who had been set free from sin and disease to turn away from it and begin to walk a different walk. Now if Jesus said that to people in His day, it still applies today. It seems that somewhere along the line, we have adopted the notion that we can live like the devil and still be a child of the King. BEEP! WRONG!!
It is inventory time. We need to answer a set of questions that may well determine our eternal destiny. That means we cannot take them lightly. Ready?
1. Can you recall when you prayed to ask the Lord to forgive your sins and come into your life?
2. Were you sincere in praying that prayer?
3. Do you have the assurance that Christ is your Savior and Lord at this very moment?
4. In what manner has your way of life changed since you received Christ into your life? Have you turned away from the sins of your past?
5. Are you disciplining yourself daily to read God’s Word?
6. Do you have a meaningful prayer time each day? (Not just before meals or “Now I lay me down to sleep”)
7. Do other people know you are a Christian by your spiritual walk with the Lord?
8. When you sin, does your conscience convict you and lead you to confess the sin?
9. If you were to appear before God right now, would He be pleased with the way you are living?
These are just a few questions that will hopefully reveal what your walk is like. It may be a wakeup call to reestablish your relationship with God. It is so easy to get caught up with the things of the world and ignore the Lord who has promised us eternal life. We never know when something very sudden and unexpected could end our life on this earth. The few questions above will be nothing compared to the questions we will give about every deed done in the flesh. Are you ready? I urge you to do it now while there is still time.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Dec 16, 2013 | 1 John
1 John 4:7-9
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.
I have a picture of my dad taken in 1950, standing with five of his brothers in front of a couple of 40’s-era cars. As I looked at it recently, I felt a longing to see my Dad once more and tell him how much I love him. This man with only an eighth grade education had wisdom which cannot be taught in schools. But beyond that, he was a man who was filled with love for others.
Dad taught me what it was to know the Lord. He did that in many ways, not all of them pleasant. I can vividly remember that in the second drawer of his chest of drawers, he kept an old fashioned razor strap. They were created for sharpening the straight razors used by men back in the early days to shave. Those straps may have been designed to sharpen the razors, but they were objects of terror to the behinds of young boys!
Across the years, since receiving the Lord as my personal Savior, I have grown in my love for Him. There have been times when I felt His hand of discipline, but I always knew that it was for my own good. I also have come to realize that when the Lord has had to discipline me, it hurts Him more than it does me. He only brings about the discipline because of His great love and concern for me. Fredrick Whitfield must have felt that same way when he wrote the words to the hymn, O How I love Jesus.
The chorus goes like this: O, how I love Jesus, O, how I love Jesus, O, how I love Jesus–because He first loved me!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Oct 9, 2013 | 1 John
1 John 3:18-19
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.
As part of my Master’s Degree in Sociology, I studied a book about the difference in the way we want others to see us versus the way we are when we think we are not being observed by the people we want to impress. One example that I recall was the way waiters in an upscale dining room acted while serving guests compared to their behavior in the kitchen area with other staff members.
I once officiated at a military committal service for a decorated Navy veteran at a National Cemetery a little over an hour from our home. I asked my dear wife to ride with me and keep me company. It was a lovely day, and when we arrived at the shelter where the ceremony was to take place, I was directed to park at just the right location for Joyce to observe the service from the car.
The military contingent marched forward carrying the folded flag. The rifle detail fired three salvos; the flag was unfurled and as the military members saluted, a bugler played out the somber notes of the taps. It was inspiring to have four military personnel standing at parade rest while I recited Scripture and made spiritual application about the reality of eternity. The military detail concluded its portion of the service by presenting the flag to the widow, and then marched out of sight behind a wall.
As Joyce and I drove away, she reflected on what she had seen from her vantage point. The military detail had been so polished and regimented during the ceremony, but after they disappeared behind the wall, a change took place. She watched as stiff formality dissolved into casual laughter and gestures of relief.
Before we say anything critical of these young, brave service personnel, let us stop and consider our spiritual behavior. How many times have we put on a false facade of piousness? If we face ourselves in God’s mirror of truth—the Bible—what will we see?
If ever there were a time for authentic Christianity, it is now! We need men and women who will stop putting on a spiritual show and start living as authentic believers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are people looking at the way we live—not just when we are in church, but every single day of the week. There are no “time outs” when it comes to serving Jesus. We should be the same “behind the wall” as we are when we’re called upon to minister. On stage or off stage—we need to be real soldiers of the cross! AT ALL TIMES!
Blessings, Dear Hearts, draw near to God today, trust Him completely, and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 11, 2013 | 1 John
1 John 2:15-16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
Many years ago there was a popular comic strip called Pogo. It featured a possum called Pogo and was set in the Okefenokee Swamp in Florida. Pogo and the other characters in the swamp were certain that they were about to be attacked by an unknown enemy. As they searched for this army they happened to look into the water and discovered who they were looking for. They returned to the others who had been waiting and announced: We have met the enemy and they is us!
Pride is such a persistent transgression that we need to be aware at all times of the many ways it can appear. A preoccupation with our feelings may seem to be a normal reaction to what we are enduring, but it may also be a pride of self that seeks to keep self in control rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to be in control.
The accumulation of things may at first appear to just be a desire to collect things that are special. But closer observation can reveal that the reason we collect things is to own something, or to possess more some-things than others have.
Need I go into the mania to seek a title that inflates the ego? Doctor, Master, Bishop, Reverend, Holiness—Grand Poobah! Some titles may be earned, but even if they have been granted after years of study, they must never be paraded. Mom and Dad gave me the name Cecil, and that is a good enough title for me.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
—Pastor Cecil
